Greetings, MW reader, and happy 2025 to you. Here’s the first MW Monthly of the year, kicking off with some big news–condensed here for brevity. Here are the highlights for this update:
- J6 pardons, oh my!
- VCDL Lobby Day fizzles a bit
- Read the ProPublica article tbh
Read the Yearly from the end of 2024 if you’re into that:
Or go back in time and read the last Monthly, which covered September and August 2024:
J6 Pardons
The biggest news from January 2025 is the White House’s sweeping pardons for those charged for their alleged involvement in the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Here are some highlights from the world of militias:
- Stewart Rhodes, the founder and former leader of the Oath Keepers, left prison on January 20 after his pardon but remained around DC watching others leave custody and even eating in the Capitol dining area. On January 24, a federal judge decreed that Rhodes and other Oath Keepers would not be allowed in DC following his release and antics in the capital, but swiftly lifted the order following intervention from the Department of Justice. Rhodes–also notably–made a Trump rally one of the first things he publicly attended after his release, opting to stand behind President Trump at a casino rally in Las Vegas on January 25. Trump’s Las Vegas rally has been described as a “victory lap” by media.
- California resident Derek Kinnison, who was an associate of both the Oath Keepers and a III% adherent, received a standing ovation at his church after he was pardoned for his multiple felony charges related to J6.
- At a peculiar J6 offender retreat/ranch run by Jenny Cudd, Proud Boy Don Hazard told Donie O’Sullivan of CNN that the first thing he did after arriving home was go to a gun store. He described the riot as a “total setup”.
Family members of J6 rioters pardoned by Trump have also noted their worry about retribution. This is especially the case for those who have been publicly or legally opposed to the behavior of their family members, such as the son of a Texas III% leader or the ex-wife of Stewart Rhodes, Tasha Adams. Media Matters also has a good roundup of concerning retributive speech by J6 participants making the media circuit.
As others have noted, these pardons surely send a message and feel like other moments in US history as they potentially revitalize a movement that has been hurting for a few years.
Perhaps inspired by the sweeping pardons of J6 participants, three men convicted in the plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer requested and failed to receive new trials for their cases. These men, Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison, and Pete Musico, were convicted for their association with plot leaders Barry Croft and Adam Fox.
Other Stories:
The Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) held its annual Lobby Day concurrently with Trump’s inauguration, garnering reduced engagement. Key members of the main militia that has been a staple of these events in recent years appear to have elected to attend Trump’s inauguration in DC instead, but a couple of remaining Boogaloo adherents did show to low fanfare.
Nearly five years later, the Chicago Police Department confirmed that Officer Kyle Mingari, who wore a III% logo on a gaiter when mobilizing against a racial justice protest in 2020, will only face a minor reprimand for his choices.
A Note on the ProPublica Reporting
You’ve probably already read it by now, but it’s worth reading ProPublica’s The Militia and the Mole, which details the actions, rhetoric, and structure of a post-J6 militia group. It also moves into the public eye some of the details of the leadership of Bobby Kinch, who started Oath Keepers USA as a spinoff of Rhodes’s organization. The prior August reporting–also by Joshua Kaplan–is stellar and worth reviewing, as it covers the American Patriot III% militia within a similar timeframe.
Further reading:
- Amy Cooter writes for TheConversation about how militia groups could be empowered by Trump’s immigration policies